Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Sorry if these are reposts but I don't remember seeing them. They're on CBT's website labeled as "office tower":

102officetower01.jpg


102officetower02.jpg


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102officetower04.jpg
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Deep yawn.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

How did WTC7 wind up in the Financial District (of Boston)?
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

I see some very subtle X-bracing. Is this just the old tower without the spire?

I am all for Boston getting a new tallest building, but when your current tallest building is just SO GOOD the bar is high, and whatever surpasses it better be worthy of redefining our skyline. This is just not quite amazing enough, and dare I say it, maybe a little too tall for the cluster.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

^ If it is based off the original, it's undergone some fundamental changes. For instance, the original tower had perfectly square floorplates while this one is decidedly rectangular. On the other hand there are enough similarities to assume it isn't a clean-sheet redesign.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

A building with a pointed top would look here.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

It's probably just a placement model, not the design.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

That rendering still lools like a 1,000 footer, which, as I recall, was shot down by the FAA. So what gives?
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Those CBT renderings date back to at least May of 2009, when they were posted in this thread.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Thanks for clearing that up Briv. I something tall that culminates in a point/spire would be a good fit here. I just don't want it to cheat to beat the Hancock.

Maybe something like a 925' reflecting glass tower in the shape of a sharp-topped obelisk, which hopefully the guy on skyscraperpage will render for me soon. We need to mitigate those shadows on the common! Also, I would like the 500-600' towers in the financial district to still seem tall. That's always something I have appreciated about our skyline from up close, as opposed to say, the Philadelphia effect.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

^What is the "Philadelphia Effect"?
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Also, I would like the 500-600' towers in the financial district to still seem tall.
They barely seem tall now, unless you're standing right underneath them.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

^What is the "Philadelphia Effect"?

I'm guessing it may be that one tall tower will bring precedent for other tall towers to go up. Possibly referring to when Liberty Place finally broke the height ceiling (surpassing the height of William Penn atop City Hall), setting the stage for other tall towers in Philly to go up.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

^What is the "Philadelphia Effect"?

Oh sorry should have specified this. The Philadelphia Effect (for me) is the effect where the 5 tallest towers basically dominate the rest of the skyline. It is most apparent at ground level when a 500' building looks short because of being right next to a 900' building. Boston's financial district has 13 buildings between 500'-614' (not to mention 496' Custom House), and they all look tall when you are walking around the city. I don't want 1 building to be so large that it trivializes the rest of these towers, both at ground level and in the skyline. The original proposal would have done just that. It was so much bigger, that it would have looked like downtown had just 1 tall tower, instead of 13-14 pretty tall towers.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

I read in the NY Times several days ago that Wall Street is shipping mid-level jobs to the boonies, e.g., FL, UT, NC.

I know in Rosslyn VA, of the last two towers allowed there by the FAA, one is proceeding at glacial pace, as there is no construction financing nor tenant. By glacial pace, it will take four years to rise 300 feet. Goldman Sachs is oart of the development team. The other tower hasn't started construction and is being converted from office to residential.

This tower is going nowhere as an office tower. Anybody who believes otherwise care to name a prospective tenant(s)?
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Briv is correct in pointing out the renderings I (re-)posted are from 2009. I figured they were old but felt like (re-)sharing them because 1) my faulty memory didn't recall those particular images and 2) I wanted to get the discussion away from the pissing contest on the previous page.

CBT's own words on the project are as follows: "CBT provided conceptual planning and design, in association with James Carpenter Design Associates, Inc, for a 2.1 million-square-foot office building that was designed as a showpiece of high performance innovation..."

So even in their view it was nothing more than an exercise; there is no concrete proposal afoot and certainly no tenants lined up. I apologize if I misled anyone.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Oh sorry should have specified this. The Philadelphia Effect (for me) is the effect where the 5 tallest towers basically dominate the rest of the skyline. It is most apparent at ground level when a 500' building looks short because of being right next to a 900' building. Boston's financial district has 13 buildings between 500'-614' (not to mention 496' Custom House), and they all look tall when you are walking around the city. I don't want 1 building to be so large that it trivializes the rest of these towers, both at ground level and in the skyline. The original proposal would have done just that. It was so much bigger, that it would have looked like downtown had just 1 tall tower, instead of 13-14 pretty tall towers.

Wait what? In your previous post, you are calling for a 925' obelisk shape tower. At this height, this tower is only 50 feet shorter than the Comcast Center, 20 feet shorter than 1 Liberty Place and more than 50 feet taller than 2 Liberty Place. Yet you stated that in Philly, these taller towers are making everything else look shorter in the city. So technically, a 925' obelisk tower would still make downtown look like "1 tall tower, instead of 13-14 pretty tall towers." If anything, the only solution is to make this tower around the range of 700 ft or have the Philadelphia effect so that it would look like 5-6 pretty tall towers instead of just one.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Wait what? In your previous post, you are calling for a 925' obelisk shape tower. At this height, this tower is only 50 feet shorter than the Comcast Center, 20 feet shorter than 1 Liberty Place and more than 50 feet taller than 2 Liberty Place. Yet you stated that in Philly, these taller towers are making everything else look shorter in the city. So technically, a 925' obelisk tower would still make downtown look like "1 tall tower, instead of 13-14 pretty tall towers." If anything, the only solution is to make this tower around the range of 700 ft or have the Philadelphia effect so that it would look like 5-6 pretty tall towers instead of just one.

Well, the obelisk would mitigate the height difference as opposed to a tall box. It would be a sharp sloped (more like Washington Monument than Bunker Hill) so would start it's main taper to the point about 750' at most. I guess you're right that it's still not that much different than Philly, although Philly's other biggest problem is that it had the height limit for so long, so its table-top was about 100 feet shorter than Boston's. (600' tower is already 20% taller than 500' tower) I just feel like the obelisk is a slim enough form, and the triangle point can add good height without seeming overbearing or tacked on. (as opposed to the side spire on this original proposal)

I think a Comcast height tower that doesn't taper to a point would be too tall for Boston's financial district. I probably wouldn't complain about it, but I don't want our skyline to lose its balance and suddenly look like Oklahoma City's or something else just as stupid. It's a delicate matter to be a clear tallest but still blend appropriately with the rest of what's there.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

I'm okay with an 800' glass box!
 

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